Valley's decline in crime slowing

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press December 12, 2000

By BART WEITZEL
Valley Press Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Though the trend of declining crime in the Valley seems to be continuing in 2000, the slide may have slowed a bit, according to statistics released by the California State Attorney General's Office.

In 1998 and 1999 the Valley saw 30% and 20% drops in the crime rate, respectively.

For the first six months of 2000, Lancaster had a 1.6% drop in crime and Palmdale saw a slight 3% increase, according to the statistics released Monday.

"Even though we're working with small numbers which can skew the percentage, it looks like we may have bottomed out," said Capt. Tom Pigott, commander of the Lancaster Sheriff's station. "Is this now a reversal in the trend, or is it just a bounce? It appears at this point that we may be beginning to see the start of a rise in the crime rate."

Throughout the state, crime increased slightly in California's largest cities in the first half of 2000, with Los Angeles skewing statistics upward with its 9.7% jump in crime.

If Los Angeles were removed from the list, the state's crime rate would have dropped slightly compared with the first half of 1999, Attorney General Bill Lockyer said.

Overall, however, crime increased 1.3% in the 77 California cities with populations of at least 100,000, Lockyer said. The largest increases were for rapes, which rose 9.7%, and homicides, which were up 4.7%.

The numbers still were lower than when crime rates peaked 25 years ago, Lockyer said.

In Palmdale a single number was also the culprit behind the slight rise. Though most crimes in the city were down, a 26% rise in small-time thefts in the larceny category drove up the overall numbers. Larceny is theft without force including petty theft, and certain grand theft not including grand theft auto.

Actually, the Attorney General's Office does not include larceny or arson in its crime totals, and according to those numbers, Palmdale experienced an 11.3% drop in overall crime. Using those numbers for Lancaster there was a 4.6% drop in crime for that city.

"The increase in larceny could be due to the expansion of the number of retail outlets within the city. That has grown dramatically recently," said Lt. Bobby Denham of the Palmdale Sheriff's Station. "Also lot of larceny is the result of juvenile crime. We have stepped up our enforcement of truancy and juvenile crime and have been noticing some impact as a result."

Denham said the larceny numbers should decrease in the second half of the year as the result of those efforts.

Crime overall in Los Angeles, the state's largest city with 3.8 million residents, rose 9.7% in the first half of 1999.

The biggest increase was in homicides, which were up 25% with 245 killings in the first six months of 2000 compared to 196 for the same period last year.

In Lancaster and Palmdale respectively, the change in the homicide rate was too small to measure. Lancaster registered five homicides in the first six months of 2000 compared to two in 1999. Palmdale registered three for the first six months of both years.

Overall, violent crimes were down in both Valley cities with Lancaster dropping 9.7% and Palmdale dropping 6.9%.

Lockyer said he couldn't remember the last time Los Angeles had such an influence on the statewide data.

"People could speculate endlessly on whether it's gangs, demography or low morale in the (police) department," he said. "Clearly it is not a time to be complacent."

Pigott and Denham both thanked the community for their efforts and support of local law enforcement. While the Los Angeles Police Department has been rocked by scandals and allegations of corruption in its Rampart Division, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has enjoyed strong support from the Antelope Valley even in the wake of its own scandals.

"I've worked a lot of places," Denham said. "By far this is the most active area with respect to community involvement that I have ever worked."

Pigott seconded Denham's sentiments and cited the support by the community and a willingness to report crime and get involved as a major factor in keeping crime down in the Valley.

"It is clear that we have to have the continued community support if we are going to continue to be as effective in the Valley," he said.

Around the state, Daly City, a San Francisco suburb with 104,600 people, showed the biggest jump with a 31% increase in crime. The city had 13 rapes in the first half of 2000, compared to nine during the same period last year.

There were no murders reported in Daly City for the 2000 period, compared to four from January to June in 1999. However, aggravated assaults jumped 94.4% to 105 from 54.

Stanislaus County had a 33.5% decrease in crime, the largest percentage drop in the state.

Lockyer declined to give specific reasons for the increase in crime but suggested that California's population of 18- to 24-year-olds is increasing and also rape victims may be more likely to report attacks.

"The most alarming statistic is rape," he said. "It's unacceptably high."

His office was working to help increase the number of rape arrests and prosecutions by expanding a statewide DNA database that by next summer will contain the genetic code of 200,000 California felons.

He plans to support a bill, expected to be introduced next year, that would require a DNA sample from all people convicted of felonies. Lockyer expects opposition from civil rights groups.

"We take fingerprints when they're arrested. This is a form of a fingerprint for every convicted felon," he said. "It seems logical to me."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.